2018 Sheridan Start-Up Challenge Pitch Night is Thursday, November 8, 5:30PM!
The Sheridan Area Wyoming Technology Business Center (WTBC) cordially invites you to attend the Pitch Night presentations for this year’s Sheridan Start-Up Challenge on Thursday, November 8th, 5:30 PM, at Sheridan’s downtown historic landmark venue, the WYO Theater, 42 N. Main St. Five local entrepreneurs will pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges, with the top three receiving a $5,000 award, pro bono legal counsel from Davis & Cannon, and the opportunity to apply for additional working capital from a $50,000 seed fund.
Supporters and Sponsors:
This year’s Start-Up Challenge is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors and supporters, including the City of Sheridan, Sheridan County, the SEEDA Joint Powers Board, EMIT, The Homer A. and Mildred S. Scott Foundation, First Federal Bank, and Davis & Cannon. The Challenge is designed to encourage more entrepreneurial activity in the Sheridan area. Response to this year’s application period was strong, and a number of intriguing business ideas were offered. A group of 10 semi-finalists were selected in September, and each presented an overview of their ideas to a judging panel. Finalists were notified in early October, and each has worked closely with the WTBC to further refine their business ideas and prepare for the Pitch presentation.
The five finalists pitching on November 8 include:
• My-Town, Aaron Baker, a mobile application that will enable small businesses to reach their local community.
• Angle PR, Jamie Diamond, a PR-as-a-service company that works with start-up companies to get their stories in the press.
• Spark Payments, Spencer Kuzara, a payment processing company designed to provide a frictionless way for businesses to accept payments in digital currency.
• Connect Speech Therapy, Chelsea Paulus, an innovative in-home speech therapy practice serving individuals with speech therapy needs.
• ThermMaker, Chad Reckard, a large, automated fluid heater for use in oil and gas development
Pitch Night Judges:
Attendance at Pitch Night on November 8 is free – make plans to attend! It will start promptly at 5:30 PM, and each of the Finalists will give a 15 minute presentation and will entertain questions from a local judging panel. This year’s judges include Tim Barnes, co-founder of Black Tooth Brewing Company; Laura Lehan, Principal Consultant at PeAK Consulting; Josh Law, Chief Development Officer and founder of Flood Marketing; Jesus Rios, CEO and co-founder of Ptolemy Data Systems; Jerad Stack, Director of the WTBC Casper and co-founder of Breakthrough 307; and PJ Treide, founder of Surf Wyoming and Bighorn Design.
Reception:
Following the five pitches, the WTBC will host a reception at the WYO Theater where the top three qualifying teams will be announced.
For more information, contact:
Scot Rendall, Director
Wyoming Technology Business Center
307-675-1939 / srendall@uwyo.edu
